Academic stay with Professor Pascale Bédard - Thinking about art objects and their socio-economic significance in contemporary capitalism

From 13 to 16 October 2025, in the frame of the ENCATC Working Group Art Markets and Cultural Goods Integrity, our member Université libre de Bruxelles in partnership with ENCATC welcomed Professor Pascale Bédard from Université Laval of Quebec, a renowned specialist in cultural policies and practices.

Across four conferences, lectures, and seminars, Professor Bédard invited us to reflect on the evolving nature of work in the cultural sector, the economic and social realities of artists, and the tensions between artistic creation and managerial logics in cultural organisations. 

This research lunch focused on how we can think about works of art as objective realities and the result of creative practice, but also as commodities or counter-commodities. It offered a conversation based on the following proposition: works of art have a complex and nuanced relationship with the commercial world, which also has significant consequences for the social integration of artists' activities. Indeed, artists seek to reproduce their economic life while maintaining a practice based on a different set of goals. Moreover, in the context of contemporary capitalism, where the values of authenticity and creativity triumph in the markets, artistic work questions the notion of vocation and its social use. By grasping the classic categories of commodity, productive work, and free work, it seems relevant to continue the sociological reflection on the art object and its economic embeddedness.